Russia is working towards losing a half million soliders by the end of this year…..
The Ukraine has denied Russia’s attempt to matain control of the skys over captured Ukraine territory…
Ukraine will take possesion of 19 F-16’s by the Summer….
Ukraine forces seem to be concentrating on striking targets in Crimea….
Is THAT a goal to set things up for a possible end of the conflict with Ukraine regaining Crimea and giving up land in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions?
-
The Russian military is on course to lose 500,000 personnel within the next year, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence. The MoD added that Russia was averaging 300 military casualties each day throughout 2023. It tweeted: “The average daily number of Russian casualties in Ukraine has risen by almost 300 during the course of 2023. If the numbers continue at the current rate over the next year, Russia will have lost over half a million personnel in Ukraine.”
-
The UK’s Ministry of Defence says Russia is continuing to struggle to establish air superiority over Ukraine. Three Russian combat jets were shot down just before Christmas and that affected ground forces’ tactical objectives later in the month, the MoD said. It added that Russia has been increasing its aerial strikes in recent days “but at a lower level than before the shootdowns”.
-
Russian officials in the southern border city of Belgorod have offered to evacuate worried residents – an unprecedented announcement that follows waves of fatal Ukrainian attacks. Reuters reports that the Kremlin has tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy on the home front, but the recent strikes on Belgorod have brought the conflict closer to home for Russians.
-
Russia says it downed four Ukrainian missiles over Moscow-annexed Crimea overnight, Agence France-Presse reports. The attack came a day after Russia said it repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea, downing 36 drones over the peninsula.
-
Denmark’s transfer of 19 American-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will take place in the second quarter of 2024, once Ukrainian pilots have completed training, the defence ministry has said. The Danish ministry said in a statement: “Based on the current timetable, the donation should take place in the second quarter of 2024. It’s mainly an issue of finishing the training of Ukrainian personnel who will operate the planes.”
-
President Joe Biden’s top budget official stressed that there is no avenue to help Ukraine aside from Congress approving additional funding, as negotiations among US politicians remained stalled. Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said that while the Pentagon has some limited authority to help Kyiv, without new funding from Capitol Hill “that is not going to get big tranches of equipment into Ukraine”.
-
Reuters reports that the Kharkiv region prosecutor’s office has provided further evidence that Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles supplied by North Korea, showcasing the fragments. On Friday, a senior adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia hit Ukraine this week with missiles supplied by North Korea for the first time during its invasion.
-
The government of Nepal banned its citizens from travelling to Russia or Ukraine for employment after 10 young men were killed and dozens more reported missing while fighting, predominately in the Russian military. More than 200 Nepali soldiers are believed to have enlisted in the Russian army since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Nepal’s foreign ministry had said, and more than 100 of them have gone missing. A smaller number are believed to be fighting in the Ukrainian army…..
…
Jan 6, 2024 – ISW Press
Ukrainian forces are conducting a multi-day strike campaign against Russian military targets in occupied Crimea and have successfully struck several targets throughout the peninsula. Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces struck an administrative building at the Russian airfield in occupied Saky, Crimea with up to four Storm Shadow cruise missiles on the night of January 5 to 6. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that Russian forces destroyed five Ukrainian drones and four missiles over the Black Sea and Crimea on the night of January 5 to 6 and six Ukrainian Neptune missiles over the northwestern Black Sea on January 6. Ukrainian Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk thanked Ukrainian pilots for successfully striking targets at the Saky airfield but did not specify if he was referring to Ukrainian strikes on January 4, 5, or 6. Oleshchuk posted satellite imagery showing the target of the reported successful Ukrainian strike at the Saky airfield, although ISW is currently unable to identify what the target was. The Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) stated on January 6 that the GUR, Ukrainian Air Force, and Ukrainian forces conducted a complex special operation that struck Russian radar positions at the Saky airfield and an equipment depot near Hryshyne (60km northeast of Yevpatoria) on January 4. GUR posted satellite imagery showing damage to the Russian ammunition depot near Hryshyne. Ukrainian officials and sources have reported that Ukrainian forces have also struck an air defense radar system and a communications center in Yevpatoria responsible for coordinating Russian air defense operations in occupied Crimea, ammunition warehouses near Pervomaiske (82km north of Simferopol), and a Russian command post near Sevastopol in strikes since January 4. Ukrainian and Russian reporting indicates that Ukrainian missiles and drones are penetrating Russian air defenses in occupied Crimea and have successfully struck some intended targets.